The Battle of Brynstead (part 1)
Shots Fired!
Welcome to the nineteenth issue of Sketchy Scoops! Your number one source for the most spurious content on the internet.
This is part of a story arc. If you’ve missed the previous episodes, you can start from the beginning of this arc here:
Scoop Reports: The Battle of Brynstead
Heat washed over the opening of the crevice in which we hid. Outside we could hear the clamor of men and beasts yelling. There was the clang of weapons crashing against each other. The careful and deliberate attempts to hide our presence from the Council had failed. They had found us and now we faced obliteration. The loss of everything for which these men had so carefully planned and worked. The loss of our best opportunity to win freedom for the people who lived under the hills.
“They know we’re here,” Lykos said. “You can—you should—wait here. Stay hidden. I must go out there and help those men. We have to try to salvage what we can of this situation.” The satyr didn’t wait for a response. He stood and sauntered off until the only evidence of him were the echoes of his hooves against the stone walls of the crevice where we had taken shelter.
At this time, dear reader, you may think me a coward. You might think I should have charged after him or stopped him from leaving entirely, but you need to understand that this was warfare unlike anything I’d ever before seen by methods that I didn’t understand. However, you can set your mind at ease. I didn’t stay hidden for long.
I crawled out from behind the pile of rocks and stepped into madness. The soldiers were in disarray. They ran back and forth trying to help fallen comrades or drag the wounded to safety. In the distance, I saw Aelien rallying a group of men and Nagas in an attempt to fortify the supply tents. Bucket brigades had been formed to douse a spreading fire.
Globules of water floated slowly overhead. I didn’t understand what they were and so I stared at them. One floated closer and closer to me and I reached out to touch it, but then I was tackled and forced to the ground by Lykos.
He spread his body out over mine and wouldn’t let me stand. He kept shouting at me to stay down. Seconds later a large explosion knocked both of us across the field. After my ears stopped ringing, I asked him what had happened.
He pointed in the direction of the council’s ship. There, I saw men and women standing on the bow gesticulating with intent. They pulled water from the river and somehow shaped it with their gestures. When that had been finished, the globules flashed for a moment and then they began their slow journey across the battlefield in search of targets.
“Those are aqua mines,” Lykos said. “Deadly things. The watermancers—that’s what they call those people standing on the bow—can direct them or set them free. Either way, they detonate on impact. Even the softest of touches is enough to set one off. If you would have touched the one that was approaching, you the only thing would have remained is your memory.”
Lykos gestured to the other side of the field, and I saw a group of Nagas performing what appeared to be an elaborate dance, but he explained was actually an expression of how they exerted control over water elements. Three of them caught an aqua mine and reversed its course. It began to fly back to the ship. I wondered whether it would be enough to sink the vessel, but before I had a chance to ask, a gout of water shot out from the ship.
A large jet of high-pressure water basically erased anything it touched as it traveled across the landscape. All of the fortifications, the battlements that had been built up, and men were ripped in half by the powerful stream. Finally, the jetty came to rest on the embankments that had been built at the base of the cavern wall. The stone crumbled and broke away into nothing. When the stream ended, the only thing that remained was rubble.
“Torrential cannons,” Lykos said in answer to my unspoken question. “They are all but unstoppable. Problem is that it takes a lot of energy to fire them. We have to act now while they replenish their stores.”
“Calm yerself!” Aranblaze said. I still can’t get over the prospect of a talking Hellbender. Seeing a lizard speak just feels so unnatural. “Here we go, boys!” He motioned to a squadron of salamanders who had formed up behind him and then looked to Naliya, the Naga, who had joined their ranks. “Waiting on you.”
Naliya nodded and then began to move his arms back and forth in a complicated pattern. He slid from side to side on his slithering tail and finally slapped his hands together. When he did so, the water immediately below where the watermancers stood on the bow of the ship were directing the aqua mines gushed upward right into their faces. At that moment, the salamanders made a fast gesture that ended with their small, splayed fingers all assuming the same diamond shaped pattern and in unison they cried out a word that I didn’t understand. When that happened the wall of water exploded into a burst of steam. The watermancers cried out in agony as they were scalded to death by the sudden heat.
“What did I just see?” I asked.
“Naliya used his affinity with water to spray the watermancers with splashes from the river which the salamanders then superheated to such an intense degree that those men and women were literally boiled alive.” Lykos shook his head. “Terrible way to die.”
“Is that it then? Is the battle over? I mean without their watermancers they can’t make new aquamines. I assume they won’t be able to use the cannons either.”
“We don’t know if those were the only watermancers they have on the ship. More than that though, we can’t allow anyone on that ship to escape. If the council learns about our whereabouts…” His words trailed off because we were both distracted by the scores of soldiers repelling down the sides of the ship and making their way to shore.
A Note from the Editor
Next week, the battle for Brynstead begins in earnest. I hope you’re enjoying these episodes and that you’ll share them with others. Thanks for reading